


Rejects for Hire

by aroyalrobotwrites



Category: Cowboy Bebop
Genre: Anime, Bounty Hunters, Outer Space, Space Opera, Space Pirates
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-12-01
Updated: 2016-03-07
Packaged: 2018-05-04 07:33:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,878
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5325893
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aroyalrobotwrites/pseuds/aroyalrobotwrites
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Spike is on a new mission searching for a mysterious lady.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Setback

Spike woke up on the battered couch with a migraine. The events from the night before were nothing more than a haze. He did remember the drink the buxom redhead with the pouty lips had given him before he passed out. Her tight green dress had mesmerized him; it was a glove on her body, clinging on to every curve. Now he was in his boxer shorts with the same shirt from the day before. It was now covered in stains he did not recognize and there was a tear on his left side. Cursing to himself he groaned when the lights began to flicker. The brightness caused the pounding in his head to become unbearable. He felt a vibration on the ground and began to pat the floor down for his handset. When he was able to get ahold of the handheld, he looked at the incoming message and scratched his mane of dark hair. He stifled a yawn when he noticed Jet was making his way into the lounge.

“You still look like shit.” Jet said as he walked past Spike towards the compact fridge. It was rare to see anything in it, since they were usually too broke to get anything edible. The protein bars were cheap but they tasted like cardboard.

“Yeah, I feel way better though.” He lied as he watched Jet reach for a beer. His nausea kicked in some more and he looked up at the fan.

Jet shook his head as he looked at his beer. “This bounty is driving you insane. When was the last time you even got some sleep?”

Spike tried his best to think back to when things weren’t hazy. “Three weeks.” That was the last time he searched for Julia. Fruitless leads and risky missions were only worth it when you were getting paid and although he cared for her, she clearly did not want to be found.

Jet walked past him again, this time kicking the couch. “It’s your funeral. You sure you don’t want any help?”

“You and Ed are closing in on that Martian bounty, that is too much money to let slip by. I can handle it.”

“Suit yourself.” He waved at Spike before stepping out of the room.

Spike looked at his handset again and cursed when he saw his lead was ready to leave the planet. “Not good, not good” he uttered to himself. He leaped out of the couch and his body reacted with a cocktail of unpleasant symptoms. He passed Jet in the ship’s main dark metallic hallway and raced towards the nearest elevator. Their ship was old, but reliable and he was glad to see that the elevators were still responsive. He pushed the button that would lead him to the garage and almost kicked the metal door when he noticed he wasn’t dressed for space riding.

The handset began to vibrate some more in his hand. He decided it would be best to begin warming up his ship remotely while he thought about his lack of attire. He programmed the handset to update him on the target’s current status.

“Target is 300 kilometers from original position, Spike” it chimed.

“FUCK!” he yelled. The elevator thumped, alerting him that they had made it to the garage. When the doors opened, he searched for shoes and a clean shirt. The one he was wearing had remnants of vomit from the drunken episode of the night before. He also noticed a bit of artificial chili staining his collar, or maybe that was lipstick.

Swordfish, ready for take-off this time it was an incoming message from the ship. He ran towards the cockpit and began to prepare for launch when he noticed his shoes next to the command screens. 

He synced the ship with his handset and booted the navigation systems. When he plugged in the coordinates, he put on his helmet and seat-belt. His helmet provided a better synchronization and less lag. He saw another incoming message pop up from his informant. He answered.

“This better be good, Renly.” Spike barked at the screen.

“She’s at the docking port, ready to run off to Ganymede.”

“Stop her!”

“Can’t... Seems to me that corporate caught on to you sniffing around. You should be glad they didn’t kill her.”

It was strange that a pharmaceutical company was in league with a prostitution ring and it was also bizarre that they would willingly let one of their call girls leave the planet. Especially if she was double crossing them.

“Renly, she’s smuggling the fucking drugs.”

The man laughed. Spike could see the lines creasing his face, making him look like a dried up prune. His dyed brown hair was greasy under the current light. “Customs would have caught on to it. Just let it go.”

“No, this sounds like a damn setup. Why would they allow her to leave?” Spike felt a push as his ship bumped in space. He knew he shouldn’t have used hyper drive, but he wanted to get as close as possible to the target. He searched for a space gate and warped in. For once, he was thankful he had quality seatbelts. A few minutes later, he reached the other side, closing in on Jupiter.

Renly’s blue eyes began to glimmer. “This is bad Spike. Just go back and find another bounty, leave this to the old dogs.”

“You sound like Jet,” he said before closing the line.


	2. Space Drama

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Spike is up to his old tricks, doing whatever it takes to find the lady in red.

He contacted another source. “Mark” he said when the communication line was accepted.

Mark was a 23 year old rookie cop from Ganymede that owed Spike several favors for his illicit activities. “Blackmailing me again, Spiegel?” 

“C’mon, you know we’re practically great friends here.”

“The hell do you want?” Spike saw that Mark was in his office. He had been demoted to desk duty after getting caught working with one of the syndicates on Venus.

“I need you to stop a girl when she arrives on Ganymede.”

Mark stopped looking at the paperwork in hand and stared at the screen. “You’ve got a sack of steel if you think I’m going to break protocol to help you. Did you forget you were the one that almost got me arrested?”

He was right, Spike had told the Sergeant what was transpiring because he desperately needed to catch a bounty that was worth more than he could imagine. 

“That was a mistake.”

“Asshole, you only say that because you couldn’t catch him!”

“I think you really want me to help you with this.” Spike said with a smile.

Mark’s look of disbelief was comical. Although Mark had a dark complexion, Spike could sense he was turning red with rage. His gray irises were surrounded by red. 

Spike continued to speak when he saw Mark was too angry to respond. “It looks like you popped a vessel.”

“Spiegel…” The man began to say, but Spike’s yawn cut him off. He was now boiling in rage. “How the fuck are you going to help me considering you called me?”

Another grin from Spike and Mark stood up from his seat. He looked ready to strike the com line.

“Mark, the target is your sister and she’s headed to Ganymede soon. I suggest you stop her before Certricon Pharmaceutical Inc. gets ahold of her first.” The Swordfish sent Spike an alert, causing him to focus on the left side of his monitor briefly. Radiation levels were higher near Jupiter, so he tried to raise some of his shield levels to stop the warning messages.

“…I can’t believe she would betray me like this…” Spike realized Mark had sank back into his seat. He had missed some of what Mark was saying.

“I’m sorry man” Spike said but focused on the other panels. He checked the route and he was only 20 minutes away from Ganymede. If Mark wouldn’t help, he’d have to fix this on his own and kidnap the girl if she didn’t comply. Of course, he didn’t tell Mark any of this. “What are you going to do?”

Mark looked at the screen and sighed. “I can’t leave for obvious reasons…” Spike frowned. Mark continued to speak “… but I can give you authorization on my behalf.”

“Shit, I could have used Jet for this. I’m not a cop.”

“No shit. This will grant you temporary access; I can forge identification for you but with my credentials. Do not fuck me over again.”

“I would only do that if it’s necessary.”

“How much danger is she in?”

“She’s pissed off a bunch of people and someone in there discovered our plan –“

Mark yelled, “You got her into this mess?”

“No! I needed a lead. I’m looking for Zhang Lao; he’s worth 275 million woolongs. It’s only a coincidence I found her at the brothel.”

“What?” Mark’s eyes were bloodshot and were on the verge of cartoonish. Spike suppressed yet another laugh.

“She’s one of his girls, I don’t think she works as a prostitute, but I’m pretty sure she’s at the top of the chain there which explains why they haven’t killed her yet.” Spike stared at the screen and looked at the cop. He watched Mark type something into his computer for several minutes. The Swordfish chimed, informing him that they were ten minutes away from Ganymede.

“Head to the Miyawa Airport on the eastern part of New Tokyo City; that’s where her shuttle will be landing. Your credentials have been sent; just flash that when you see one of the guards there. If that doesn’t work, ring me back and I’ll get someone there to help you. Oh, and Spike…”

“Yeah.”

“If you kill or get my sister killed, I will kill you”

“Didn’t have to tell me that.” He cut the com line and looked at the space traffic ahead. “Who the fuck is traveling this time of year?” he asked the ship.

“Those are refugees from Europa after the nuclear reactors combusted in several key zones, causing over 300 thousand casualties and forcing two million people to evacuate.”

He whistled. “I guess I should watch the news while we wait, huh?”

“Or you can try to maintain the ship’s engine levels at a moderate temperature. At this rate the cooling systems will be ineffective.”

“Hmm…” He said and began to monitor the air quality and temperature. He received an incoming call from the Ganymede docking patrol.

“Swordfish 1, please state your reason for landing?” He heard a young woman’s voice over the other line.

He’d been to Ganymede over a thousand times in the last year, but he was always asked the same question upon arrival. This time it would be different, he’d be granted access as an officer, not a bounty hunter.

“Hello ma’am, this is Officer Mark Kocijan requesting permission to land”

“Welcome, Officer Kocijan. Please load your credentials onto the system database. It’s protocol.”

When the video transmission went through, Spike removed his helmet and flashed a smile, exposing a perfect set of teeth. He saw the girl’s pale face turn red. “Anything else, miss?”

“No. Thank you and enjoy your stay on Ganymede.” The transmission ended.

He put his helmet back on and went through the gate. Several minutes later he landed on Ganymede.


End file.
